Page 5 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

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terrifed; I’m a printer, and they’re firing questions at you left and right,” Jim said — and, just a week ago, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who directed the Sullivans to SBA funding, and other officials toured Millennium’s facilities to get a look at its cutting-edge technology and talk with its team of 18 employees.
As they spoke with BusinessWest at their shop in Agawam, the Sullivans talked a little about their awards, meaning the physical awards (they each got one) they
received from the SBA. They are glass,
large, quite heavy ... and, for now and prob- ably for a long while, “safe at home, under lock and key,” as Jim put it.
“You don’t want to ever break something like this,” he said. “Never in a million years did I ever think we would ever win anything like this — I’m still in awe that we did get it.”
“Never in a million years did I ever think we would ever win anything like this — I’m still in awe that we did get it.”
But mostly they talked about what’s
behind the award and the wording on it,
and how they were chosen over the 700,000
other small businesses in Massachusetts
to receive it. Specifically, it would be more
than 30 years of hard work, sacrifice, mak-
ing those large investments in technology,
coping with and overcoming adversity —
from several downturns in the economy
to the Great Recession to the pandemic — and, in short, doing what they had to do to keep the doors open and the dream alive.
“I feel that we did a lot of good things with these SBA pro- grams,” said Jim, adding that, personally, the couple did every- thing they were asked to do to qualify for such programs, includ- ing reducing their income and even buying a smaller home.
SBA District Director Robert Nelson said essentially the same thing as he remarked on the Sullivans and their achievements.
“The Millennium Press story demonstrates how small busi- nesses can persevere when faced with extraordinary challeng- es,” he said. “The Sullivans didn’t give up on their dreams and kept working toward sustainability with support from public/ private resources, including the SBA and its lender network that help stand by your side through the toughest challenges.”
For this issue, BusinessWest talked with the Sullivans about the SBA award, what it means to them, and why it embodies their approach to doing business and managing a workforce.
Jim and Kelly Sullivan pose with an award they recently received at the recent SCORE Boston awards breakfast, where they were recognized as Small Business Persons of
the Year for Massachusetts in 2023.
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